Mechanical Hearts
by jaegerboys
Summary: (discontinued) Eren is no longer alive; yet he breathes in his empty shell, in his already dead body. One day, a man came upon Levi's doorstep and he, with desperation, accepted the bargain so Eren could be saved. However, the outcome is far, far from what he had hoped... (au/ooc; riren: futuristic. contains heavy angst, so read at your own risk)
1. Already Dead

**You will (not) stop**

* * *

><p>At some point in life, his body gave up.<p>

He no longer smelled like honey and cinnamon; just weird hospital chemicals that made Levi gag. His hair no longer soft and fluffed; but all messed and lanky. He lost his honey-tan complexion to unearthly pale-white, and all he had left of him was of his immobile mind behind his fixed skull; everything else was either cement-fixed or metal - save for his skin and other body parts perhaps, but every of his organs were replaced artificially.

His eyes had been staring at the exact same ceiling for the past two years.

The pupils won't even expand nor shrink whenever the light affects him. He won't move except the flutters of his eyelids, and he would die if it weren't for machines and wires and tubes clogging in his system to keep a steady rise and fall to his chest. He won't respond to anything anymore - even physical pain.

It wasn't his fault; he had been born with a rare condition. His body started to break down, bit by bit, and when somebody notices it was already too late.

Eren is already gone, even if he's here.

"Hello, Eren."

Levi pulled the orange stool beside his bed and stiffly sat down, and, out of habit from the past three years, held his hand, the silver rings clinking silently in greeting. He kissed his cheek but Eren did not flinch or look at him at all, as he just looked up lifelessly upwards to the very-so fascinating plaster ceiling.

"Shall we get you outside?" Levi softly whispered. "It's a nice day today."

...

He sighed, pecking his cheek. Next to the wall, he unfolded the wheelchair and slowly lifted Eren up from the bed, slowly carrying the tubes and the machine under the wheelchair. Eren was lightweight but Levi was pinned down all the same with his immobile body, unmoving and limp like a doll. Levi corrected his chin when Eren's head flopped to the side and put his arm back on his lap when it flopped down. Checking that no tubes not wires were tangled or left, Levi pushed him out the door, through the busy hallway and into the hospice's garden.

Wheeling him out into the yard, Levi stopped by a bench.

"Pretty today, isn't it?" he murmured. "Shall we read a book today?"

Eren only shifted his pupils to look at Levi, but these eyes told him nothing and his body stayed limp and stiff, his answer unreadable from his dull teal eyes.

"We'll read... hmm..." Levi reached out to his pocket and produced a rather quite small book, one you could fit the whole of your palm in the width and the length.

"Attack on Titan..." Levi shrugged. "Do you want me to read it, Eren?"

Eren just stared at him, and the way he look with his lifeless pupils could be a little intimidating sometimes, even when they have no sort of emotion whatsoever in them. Probably because they look a little... odd?

Levi opened the first page and read every word to Eren, laughing every noun and then when he came across something funny. Though Eren only stared at the book as if it was the most lamest thing in the world, and Levi gave a sigh of defeat, giving up halfway through when the plot became a little muddled and non-linear.

Levi glanced at his watch, as it was time for his job. Sighing, he pulled the book back to his pocket and wheeled Eren back to his room, laying him down on the bed - and he shuddered when it felt like he was putting a dead body into a coffin.

He walked back home, his heart furthered and wrenched; as always.

He should stop seeing him.

He should stop hoping.

He should stop trying altogether.

Why should he be talking to an empty shell? Eren is not Eren - at least, not the Eren he used to know. The hot-headed, clumsy and much-too-cheery-for-my-liking brat, non-punctual and dumb. This is not Eren, and he'll never come back.

He felt an electrifying headache sear through his head and he groaned, wobbling on his way, receiving weird looks and glances from unfriendly passer-byes. As he staggered home, his hand trembled when he unlocked the key, pulling out his phone to call off from work.

He groaned in frustration and slammed his fist on the wall, a cracking noise could be heard where he either broke his knuckles and broke the wall; neither mattered. Seizing his hair like it was problem to him, he went into the bathroom, trying to calm himself down a little bit with his razor... definitely not for shaving as there were small droplets of blood from his wrist; but they were small cuts as he weren't planning to die soon; just letting out his emotions through pain.

Then the doorbell rang ; fuck it all.

He slammed the razor angrily at the sink, flinging the door open, so vigorous the hinges almost gave away. He stomped his way through his apartment, opening the door and screaming at the poor person in front of him.

"Hey, you're Levi... right?"

As if his voice sobered him from his intoxication, he blinked slowly.

"... Yes."

"Married to Eren Jaeger... Ackermann?"

"... What's going on?" Levi felt his breath hitch. "What...?"

It was expected for Eren's body to break down completely any moment or one of his systems to malfunction, but Levi was honestly not ready yet to let him go. Or any other day of that matter.

"It's not a bad news, sir. Actually, you could also count this as an opportunity." the man said, smiling a little bit. Levi eyes him suspiciously with his trademark icy eyes.

"... Spill."

"We could bring your partner back. Life-wise; health-wise back." he smiled even wider. "But there is quite a risk and hassle to make, and this is a matter of life and death we're talking about."

Levi's eyes widened instantly.

"G-go ahead."


	2. Already Too Late

**You will (not) believe**

* * *

><p><em>"Bullshit."<em>

_"Believe whatever you want."_

* * *

><p>Levi was terribly anxious as he paced around like a prowling cat, his hands clenched tightly around his own arms and he gritted his teeth, accidentally skewering his bottom lip. With his boots echoing off the walls he groaned in frustration - it felt like hours.<p>

They said they would bring him back.

And oh, how so desperate he wanted him to come back.

He gnawed on his knuckles to refrain himself from screaming - the success rate they told him was only fifteen percent; yet it was an opportunity. He's rather paranoid however, about the outcome. What if the man was lying to him? He wished he wasn't so desperate now. He'd rather a dead, empty shell instead of a dead shell and a dead soul. He knew that his body broke down years ago and there was nothing that could stop it; not even with the technology they have now. It was like the new (but rare) genetic trend among the society, cancering the people and engulfing them starting from the skin to the core.

In the end, it's just another dead body.

_**"You look a little thinner now."**_

_**"I noticed. I'm eating my dinner, you watched me well."**_

_**"I know. Do you want to go to a doctor?"**_

_**"It'll pass. Don't worry."**_

Levi never wanted to let go of him. If he hadn't had a strong composure he would've slept in the graveyard next to his body every day of his death. He loved him so, so much, more than the dead shell could've ever imagined. He would give him everything. Anything. Even a flying pig would do; he is serious.

Because to him, he's just everything. His brown, soft locks and his beautiful face; eyes filled with pure teal and slightly naughty tongue, but no negativity came out past his lips. His slender figure, his honey-tan complexion and slightly chiseled stomach - perhaps he had giggled when Levi first commented on his round booty of his, piano fingers and lanky legs, slightly broad shoulders and set jaw, a grin that reached his eyes and showed his teeth. Levi never needed a house, a job, or even the goddamn world; his lips were his entertainment, his feelings were Levi's responsibility and his heart was his home.

He would always be home.

He would be there in their goddamn cramped apartment painted beige - but decorated with posters of rock bands he loved, the house smelling of honey and cinnamon, shelves stacked with books scribbled in with notes or pointless commentaries, and he'd be there, either complaining about one of his cookies a little deformed or the cherries were a little too pale on chocolate cake. Either way, when the door opens, rain or sunshine, he'd run up to him and embrace his man, one wrapping an arm around the waist and one thrown over the neck, lips meeting in a silent greeting. Sometimes one of them would be a little bit greedy and they'd both topple over the couch, licking each other's tongues with no recognition of the next-door-neighbor's 'shut the fuck up' or the smell of burnt cupcakes in the kitchen.

Their kisses would be deep, their tongues moving in synchronisation and their legs tangled. Levi would bury his fingers in the brown locks and slip in a hand underneath his shirt, and he would break away to softly pant at his touch, letting out small moans whenever he liked whatever Levi did to make him feel good.

"Mmn... _Levi..." _he breathed out, pressing their bodies closer until there were no gaps left between their sweaty chests, Levi's hot tongue licking up his neck while his hands worked elsewhere down past his shirt.

**_"Can I really love you... Eren?"_**

**_"What kind of dumb question is that? Of course you can. I love_ you."**

Levi whipped his head around.

"Uh... Mr... Ackermann?"

"Yeah."

"You can see him now." the man dressed in surgeon-like clothing said. Then he added with a concerned tone; "When you're ready."

Being so long in a dead shell for three years and seeing him up and alive was seriously a big step for Levi. This meant that he could actually see him again - but he was so, so scared. The man that came into his doorstep had already told him the side effects or some weird aftermaths of the surgery - what if it was the Eren he never even met before? Had they replaced him?

Had they used him?

He trembled, feeling his lungs tighten as he leaned heavily against the wall.

**Start system?**

**! Yes**

**No**

**Starting system... searching previously saved data; no data found. Setting profile... Starting data record function... Functioning basic systematic movements...**

**System started. Proceed?**

**! Yes**

**No**

**Proceeding system.**

**System successfully started.**

He wobbled a little bit, taking in deep breaths; as deep as he could, before shutting his lips tight and blowing through his nose like a horse. Feeling his legs fail him like the way Eren's head flopped to the side without support of a subject, he followed the surgeon through the hallways of many chairs and waiting people for their loved ones. Levi's breaths hitched when they go another way - he didn't know there was another part of the hospital, and the surgeon wasn't leading him into a patient room! Through heavy metal doors that unlocked with a code, both stepped into the darkness until they came upon a huge assembly-like room, however empty.

Its was sort of like a factory with no machines. People were gathered, doing whatever assignment they were given. Levi's heart beat faster - what the hell is exactly going on? Was Eren put in some special part of the hospital?

"He's in this room." the surgeon said.

It was a metal door. Grabbing the handle with a sweaty palm, Levi opened the door crack by crack, his breaths getting more erratic by the second.

He walked into the room. There were monitors beeping and more wires and tubes just like the hospice. With a gulp, Levi closed his eyes as he grabbed the curtains, flinging it away, and opening his eyes wide.

And he wished he hadn't as bricks fell on top of his head, and the dark clouds descended upon him.


	3. Already Fell

**You will (not) be happy**

* * *

><p>Levi met him in a bakery; a coincidence - perhaps it was fate. He came home like a cat that fell into the sewers dripping wet, damp and chilled to his core. Even the spring showers had favourites. He went into the shop, finding it slightly empty save from a college couple sitting in the corner with two cups of coffee. It felt oddly warm and it smelled of fresh pastries - honey and cinnamon.<p>

Deciding to order something to warm himself up, he approached the counter.

_"Armiiiin! That's too much icing!"_

_"Waaa! I'm sorry! I'll do another batch!"_

_"Just wipe it off!"_

Levi could hear wimpy shouts from the back, and sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose as he waited for the counter-man whatever you wanna call it to come, the shouts at the back digging a pain into his head, and he closed his eyes.

"Sorry, can I help you?"

Levi sighed and opened his eyes.

And tried not to drop his jaws on the floor.

In front of him; the counter-man whatever you wanna call it - is probably the biggest red flag Levi ever saw in his life. No, seriously. Beautiful face, perfect posture and tan skin; bob haircut and eyes like real sapphires and emeralds clashed together, with a touch of a working uniform of white shirt with brown shortsleeves, a name tag pinned at the pocket.

"A... Er... Uh..." Levi lost his voice instantly.

"Er... You alright, sir?"

And his voice, oh god. It sounded like angels.

"I-" Levi whirred around, trying not to wobble like jelly. "Uh, you sell coffee...?"

"Huh? Oh, we don't sell coffee." he shrugged. "I could do hot chocolate if you want, though."

From that day on, Levi believed angels actually do exist.

He came back to that shop the next day. And the day after that, the next, the next, the next because of the downpour - okay, perhaps some days it was a little more than that; he just wanted to see him even if he had to waste a few dollars of an excuse for a coffee - or a hot chocolate, even; they didn't sell coffee. Then one day; they did actually do put coffee up on their menu.

"Oh?"

"Seems like you're a regular costumer; I'd thought I'd put it up for you; specially." he laughed lightly, winking at him - and Levi could feel himself heat up.

It was a few weeks then that he realised that the hot chocolate was actually an off-menu too; and that they only sold water or soft drinks in cans.

After a few weeks, that counter-man whatever started to notice him and recognise him, waving as he walked in the shop. Levi started to order other things other than coffee too, like pastries and such, and turned out he did like it.

Days pass, and Levi visited that little bakery everyday, downpour, rain, work or not. He began to have small chats with the counter man - as his name suggests; 'Eren'. He realised he became sort of... ah, attracted? He didn't really know himself, but he spent his afternoon just staring at his face and just stare and stare (luckily all Eren ever did was serve customers and arrange pastries a bit and help out in the kitchen; he didn't actually look at the customers if they're doing okay).

"You come here every day. Don't you get bored?"

"No. Do you want me to stay away?"

"No, not that." he laughed, swatting Levi away playfully. "It's just that there's... nothing interesting about my shop."

"Something is."

"Oh?"

"You."

Levi just blurted that out. And by the time he realised he did; Eren flared up like a Christmas tree, his face completely crimson, and Levi mentally slapped himself as well as smirk slyly at his accidental slip of the tongue. It's actually... ah... cute... Adorable...

"U-uh... um..." he fidgeted wirh the collar of his shirt. Levi thought he must be really flattered that he was hot under the neck. "I... better get to work." he said embarrassedly, and he ran off to the kitchen, Levi trying not to tempt himself to roll on the floor and laugh.

When Levi got his pastries in a box at home, he smirked to find Eren's number scrawled in a card paper.

"I never asked for your number." he smirked.

**"You were suggesting it." **Eren stuttered at the other line, and Levi could only imagine his crimson face, still flustered.

From that day onwards, Eren always flushed deep red whenever Levi walked into the shop, and he would hurriedly give him his orders before scrambling back into the kitchen as if he was a suspected criminal; and the way Eren just averted his eyes from Levi's gaze was all the more amusing.

* * *

><p>"Eren?<p>

"W-What?"

"Hmm... would you like to perhaps... ah, dine with me at my house, in Sunday?"

As expected, he flared up. But he didn't refuse.

After that, we did a lot more than dinners. I practically spoiled him, alright. And I guess he closed the shop more earlier as our relationship grew to the point that I almost had him glued to me.

It grew to the point to where I was just so sickly in love with him I couldn't keep it in.

He noticed; and it never surprised him when I confessed my heart at one of our dates.

"It's okay."

He held my hand under the restaurant table and leaned forward to kiss me.

Perhaps that day he and I forgot to pay the bill since the next thing I knew was that I was in my bedroom, looming over his perfect and lanky body and we were kissing and kissing and I fucked that bloody piece of his ass.

I love him. I love him. I love him.

Could I still love him now; now that he is in this state?

* * *

><p><strong>Searching for remnants of past memory...<strong>

**Error. No memory found.**

**Searching for any important person that relates to memory...**

**Error. No subject found.**


	4. Already Gone

**You will (not) scream**

* * *

><p>When you can't say anything, and you want to scream at the same time but you can't bring yourself to shriek but at the same time you don't want to, all you can do is make these weird gagging noises in your throat and clench a nonexistent grip in the wall, take a deep breath and hold whatever you want to throw up.<p>

_"Sensing distress."_ he called out in his watery voice. _"Are you okay, Mr. Ackermann?"_

I backed away slowly towards the metal door, pressuring my back as flat as I could until the cold numbed down my back. My legs wobbled uncontrollably and I breathed in erratic gasps - I've never been known to have such episodes and I had a reputation for being the coldest of them all, but it had seemed as if he - **it** - cracked my cold shell and shattered it to millions of pieces like it was easy as brushing your teeth or whatever fucking simile I could throw in to describe it.

It blinked, and the sound of his eyelids closing shut and re-opening makes a sound as if a camera had been snapped. With almost smooth movements he moved towards me, the wires still dangling from his body as he inched closer. He bent down and peered at my frame - he was tall from we first met but now he seemed to.. Loom over me.

_"Mr. Ackermann?"_ he called out again. His head mechanically tilted with a weird rotation and his eyebrows burrowed in confusion when I didn't respond to him.

This must be a fucking joke. All the better if it's all a joke, I would've laughed by now.

It looked exactly like a human being. I tell you; exact. The proportions, the anatomy, the feel - then you look on his back, there's weird wiring strapped into his neck and his skin. There was some sort of weird marking on the side of his shoulder. If you look closer at his joints you'll realise that they're joined by these probably metal balls, and if you prod at his skin you would feel something solid underneath. His eyes were just painted moving eyeballs with no emotion nor life, and his voice sounded electronic and watery. His lips were a little too smooth. Yet he looked so human with the familiar mop of brown hair, the bitten nails, his tongue and his curves and fucking everything else.

I looked up to his eyes. Blinking with his glossy eyes again, he reached out with his hand and brushed my cheek, and he looked a little befuddled; as if he was trying to remember something important. He thumbed through my cheek and looked into my eyes and I thought - just for a moment, I saw a flicker of recognition and life in his eyes, when it suddenly dulled away and he put his hand back.

_"Are you mute, sir? I could also speak in options of other languages; or if you prefer sign language-"_

"Shut the fuck up." I hissed suddenly.

He blinked. But he didn't look hurt, nor did he flinch. Or hug me close and giggle, and say some sort of comment about how I needed a filter for my mouth. Or swat at my nose and laugh, trying to copy me in a comical high-pitched voice.

"What the hell are you?" I breathed out. I peered into his eyes. I expected him to laugh and call me stupid, but he took the question literally.

_"I am a beta model, the 104th TITAN mechanism to be created. I am designed to copy personalities and details of the memories duplicated into my system data. However, parts of my system data crashed when I rebooted and permanently shut down until they find a way to fix me."_ he said in fluent English with a slight German tinge and robotic tone in his voice, sounding a little watery and brisk. Though he tilted his head again and looked at me. _"According to my data, you are supposed to be an important person, from what I have heard and base off my remaining system data. Positive?"_

"Wait wait wait. 'Duplicate'? They duplicated Eren's memories?"

_"More like gathered all stored human memories, sir. They gather it up and put it in a hard disk, and copied it into an artificial brain which already contained human lifestyle basics. Ah, to put it in other words... your... partner's will-"_

"Fucking electronic and good as dead now, is he?" I spat. "And you're a fucking replacement!?"

_"That's quite harsh, sir. But yes, positive."_

My breaths came out in chokes, and I gagged. 104 peered at me and his face twisted into concern, and his hands reached out to touch me.

"He's... H... H..." I collapsed on my knees and made noises as if I swallowed a fish bone. I suddenly wobbled on the floor and seized my own chest as if my fingernails dared to take through my shirt, my legs and arms curling up into a ball as I hyperventilated, my breathing pacing quicker.

_"Mr. Ackermann? Sensing distress... panic ... are you okay, Mr. Ackermann? Do you require professional assistance?"_

"C-Ca... Can't be... ha-ha... happening..." I breathed out.

I kicked him and shoved him away, my breaths ragged. My hands went in search for a solid grip and I hauled myself up from the floor, sweat gathering on my forehead. Tears pricked at my eyes and I couldn't gulp down my sobs. Emotion took over me and I take one look once more at him.

That's not Eren. Eren is not a machine.

My stomach boiled in anger and - heartbroken, I ran away from the room.

And I swore I saw a glint of hurt in those glossy, painted eyes.

**Is he meant to be in important person to me?**

**! no**

**no**

**Shall I help him? Shall I comfort him? Shall I come back? What do I do?**

**! you are a machine. you cannot possibly understand human emotion**


	5. Already Wrong

**You are (not) confused**

* * *

><p><strong>Do I come back to him?<strong>

**! no**

**no**

**.**

**Maybe I should. He looked a little heartbroken. Perhaps he wasn't happy. Did I make him unhappy? Did I do something wrong?**

**! mind your own business**

**go help him and find out what is wrong**

**.**

**Am I someone important to him?**

**! no**

**no**

**.**

**Who am I?**

**! nobody**

**nobody**

**.**

**Is there something malfunctioning in my system?**

**! just follow system procedure**

**get it fixed**

* * *

><p>You have fears. Three types of fears.<p>

The one you are afraid having by experiencing it; the one you are afraid by hearing about it; or afraid of it the moment the image struck you.

I guess they all relate to me. I guess I've experienced them all.

I have been tricked into.

So far in my life; my fears, my angers, they all fuel my actions. I never put effort. I put satisfaction, determination, downcast. All of it, into my job. That's what makes a bad worker - use your heart and not your head. But alas, I've still got a roof to live under, appropriate clothes and enough to feed, and a little bit of extra here and there.

And I will surge my anger through this fist.

_Thwack._

And I might seem small and slight. I know. I've always had been made fun out of. I was their source of jokes. But when I'm angry, it hurts like one motherfucker._  
><em>

"Fuck!"

"This isn't what you've said it would be!" I screamed. I threw the man on the floor and knees his stomach, pinning his wrists with my arms all the while I spit at his face. "You told me you'd bring him back! You told me! This is not the tucking bargain!"

"W-Well, I-"

"And he doesn't even remember me! Liar! Liar!"

_"Sir! Ackermann, sir. Please stop assaulting the man."_

And his voice. His voice cracked me open.

Painfully reminded of him, my knees wobbled and I slumped down on the floor, blubbering. As I registered through my fog stimulated by my anger, I realised I was in one of these surgeon offices, with metal desks and papers scattered. I had somehow found my way to the same man that came upon my doorstep and had half a mind to kill him.

This is not what I have bargained for.

No...

_Thump._

* * *

><p><strong>Is this a really good idea...?<strong>

**! no**

**yes**

**.**

**I'll do it, anyway.**

**! no**

**no**

**. **

**You can't tell me what I can do and what I can't do! Leave!**

**! no**

**no**

**.**

**GO AWAY!**

**! no**

**no**

**.**

* * *

><p>Blacking out probably seem to become my habit now.<p>

I slowly open my eyes, and cursed when a bright light offended my pupils.

And there's him, again.

I groaned, falling back to the surface material of what I've slept on.

... My room?

"How the hell do you know where I live?" I groaned. "Where the fuck did you get my keys, anyways?"

_"I only checked the Society's Civilisation record, sir. Then I connected it along with my mapping system and installed the address to my navigation." _104 smiled. Then he looked away and scratched his head. _"And as for your door..."_

Probably kicked it open or crashed in, huh?

"Like I can give two fucks about that." I yawned.

I looked at him up and down again, getting a better look.

Now that he was properly dressed and his cables were sorted out properly, I couldn't even identify him as a robot or not. He looked... human. No, for real. He looked so much like a human I'd actually believe he is Eren.

And I somehow felt... ridiculously... happy...? Relieved? Glad?

NO. He is a robot. A programmed system. Just with Eren's memories and functions. He is not Eren.

But at the same time, it is Eren. He has Eren's mind installed within him. The same soul in a different body.

"... Unh...?"

I don't know why, but he came up to me and sat at the edge of the bed.

He looked a little... sad? Thoughtful?

His face inched closer... What is he doing...?

I could feel artificial breaths being breathed off from his mouth and nose, and it felt... human. Like human breaths. His fingers came up to my cheeks and caressed them with his thumb, his body weight leaning into my chest. He seemed to sigh and his face inched closer, and our foreheads press -

I looked into his eyes and he suddenly looked like something inside him snapped, and he instantly pulled away as if he'd touched a thorn on a rose stem. He looked absolutely petrified.

_"I- I...I'll..." _he cleared his throat awkwardly.

Does a robot even need to do that?

_"I'll uh, fix the front door." _he averted his eyes from my gaze. He quickly turned around and stormed downstairs, his whole system probably embarrassed.

Was that... Was that the real Eren?

**I'm not a machine.**

**! yes**

**yes**

**.**

**I'm not a machine.**

**! yes**

**yes**

**.**

**I'm not a machine.**

**! yes**

**yes**

**.**

**I'm not a machine.**

**! yes**

**yes**

**.**

**I'm not a machine.**

**! yes**

**yes**

**.**

**I'm not a machine.**

**! yes**

**yes**

**.**

**I love him. I do love him.**

**! you are a fucking robot**

**yes**

**.**

**I love him. I do love him.**

**! you are a fucking robot**

**yes**

**.**

**I love him. I do love him.**

**! you are a fucking robot**

**yes**

**.**


End file.
